Like most Arkansans, I watched the strange twist in the infamous “West Memphis Three” case in fascinating disbelief. How could three convicted child murderers – one of whom was on death row – who steadfastly proclaimed their innocence be suddenly released by, of all things, admitting their guilt?

With all the questions surrounding the events, one thing is absolutely certain — the Arkansas criminal justice system completely failed to bring justice for the murder and torture of Stevie Branch, Michael Moore and Christopher Byers – the three young boys who were brutally killed in West Memphis. The failure is clear and it is inexcusable.

In 1993, I was a student at Wynne High School, a 30-minute drive down Highway 64 from West Memphis. The news of the murders and the trial that followed consumed that part of the state. At the time, there was little doubt in anyone’s mind that the three teenagers accused of the crime were guilty.

But the fickle court of public opinion has shifted in the last 18 years, spurred largely by an effective public relations campaign and a series on HBO that proclaimed their innocence. Ironically, the thing that helped turn the public against them in 1993 — their strange appearance — may have been a pivotal point in rallying thousands around the country to their cause, leading to their freedom.

It was not difficult for anyone in 1993 to believe in the guilt of these grungy looking troubled teenagers that did not seem to fit in with the societal norm. However, the supporters gathered outside the Craighead County Courthouse last Friday seemed to fit the same description. This kinship shared with the accused and their supporters could largely be why so many of them rallied to their defense.

I have no keen insight into the guilt or innocence of the West Memphis Three, although reading through the detailed and controversial confession of one of the accused it is hard to see how they could be innocent.

I will also admit that I have a bias in that I tend to trust that our police and prosecutors are for the most part doing their best to put the guilty people in jail. That is perhaps the bias that separates the two views on the West Memphis Three – those who trust the system and those who do not.

But guilty or innocent — after 18 years of fighting their verdicts — their defense attorneys finally got Prosecutor Scott Ellington to blink. In exchange for entering a rarely used “Alford plea,” which basically lets them legally plead guilty with their fingers crossed, they were set free with time served.

Ellington explained that he still believes the West Memphis Three and only these three are guilty of the crime, but that it is likely their appeals would result in a new trial. He believes it would be almost impossible to retry the case 18 years after the crime. With the likelihood of an acquittal, Ellington chose to accept the plea agreement, which prevents the accused from suing the state for millions of dollars for wrongful imprisonment.

“The legal tangle that has become known as the West Memphis Three case is now finished,” said Ellington in a statement reminiscent of President Ford’s speech after pardoning Nixon.

In legal terms, perhaps he is correct. But in the public’s eye, it is hardly over.

If Ellington is right and the accused were guilty of the crime, then he set child murderers free to save the state a potential lawsuit. If he is wrong and they are innocent, whoever killed Branch, Moore and Byers have never been brought to justice. Neither possibility is palatable to the general public.

And either way, the killers are free.

Jason Tolbert is an accountant and conservative political blogger.

His blog — The Tolbert Report — is linked at ArkansasNews.com. His e-mail is jason@TolbertReport.com.